Christian Art · Renaissance · Revelation & Last Things · The Cross & Resurrection
The Ghent Altarpiece — The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb
“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” — Revelation 5:6 (KJV)
About
Completed in 1432 by Jan van Eyck (with his brother Hubert, whose share scholars still debate), the Ghent Altarpiece is the founding masterpiece of oil painting: opened, it shows God enthroned above, choirs of angels, and below, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb — the slain Lamb on an altar, blood flowing into a chalice, multitudes converging from the earth's corners.
The Meaning
Revelation made visible: the Lamb as it had been slain at the centre of creation, worshipped by prophets, apostles, martyrs, and nations. No other altarpiece holds so much Scripture in one opening of its doors.
For Us Today
Join the convergence: every tribe and tongue streams to the Lamb in this picture, and there is room. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain (Revelation 5:12) is heaven's anthem — practise it on earth until it is the most natural sentence you own.
Image: Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons — the file’s page. Tap the picture to open the full-size original there.